Method and communication device for determining a score relating to a first agent module

ABSTRACT

A method and a communication device for determining a score relating to a first agent module are described. The communication device receives information relating to at least one request, performed by another agent module separate from the first agent module, for consumption of a capability of the first agent module. The information relating to the at least one request includes information about the capability of the first agent module, information about an intention of the first agent module, and information about a policy for the capability. The communication device calculates the score in relation to the first agent module based on the information relating to the at least one request, wherein the score further is specified with respect to the capability.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to communication systems, such as wireless orwired system which may host one or more agent communities. Inparticular, a method and a communication device for determining a scorerelating to a first agent module are disclosed. A corresponding computerprogram and a computer program carrier are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND

Communication systems may commonly include one or more agents. In thiscontext, an agent is a software component that executes on somehardware, such as a stand-alone computing device, a cellular phone, acloud system or the like.

In a known multi-agent system, a plurality of agents is connected toeach other through a network. Due to a complex nature of tasks andenvironments that the agents are operational in, one or more agents mayhave limited resources to accomplish what they are capable of. Theresource can be limited since the agents share for example data, networkbandwidth, computing capacity and the like. For an agent, in suchmulti-agent system, it is a challenging task to find capable andreliable peer agents to interact with. The multi-agent system may be amulti-agent network, a network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ahybrid network of IoT devices and one or more edge cloud resourcemanagers, hybrid network of devices and humans represented with adigital twin etc. There exist various trust and reputation mechanismsthat handle how to find an agent having a certain capability andfulfilling a certain need for trust, or reliability. The diversity ofthe plurality of agents in the multi-agent system makes it verychallenging and complex to address this issue. Moreover, complexity ofinteractions between the plurality of agents further complicates mattersrelating to this issue.

Trust can be defined as an attitude, or willingness, that an agent willhelp achieve goals of another agent in any situation. Possibly, theagent can be in a situation that is characterized by uncertainty andvulnerability.

The known multi-agent system may be realized in the form of a set ofmobile agents and an edge cloud agent. The edge cloud agent can havelimited resources, but can offer a service for computation andaggregation of data coming from the mobile agents. The mobile agents canbe cellular devices, such as cellular phones, user equipments, portabledevices, robots or the like, which execute respective software agents.The edge cloud agent can be a radio base station, such as anevolved-NodeB, radio network controller, radio network node or the like,which execute a software agent. Some of the mobile agents may not betrusted. With existing trust and reputation mechanisms, it may bedifficult to find out which mobile agent to trust or not due toinsufficient accuracy.

An example relating to a robotic multi-agent system, including aplurality of interconnected robots, could be as follows: a paintingrobot may be capable of painting and moving in a certain manner. Apackaging robot can lift packages, put them in boxes and close theboxes. With existing trust and reputation mechanisms, it may bedifficult to find out which robot to trust or not due to insufficientaccuracy. For example, it may difficult to judge whether or not acertain robot is in fact trusted for performing some actions, but notfor other. For instance, it might show that some of the packaging robotsare trusted when it comes to lifting packages, but not when it comes toclosing boxes.

Request For Comments (RFC) 7070, Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF),suggest an architecture for publish/subscribe reputation (rating)reporting about a variety of applications on the Internet. In thisdocument, mutually trusted parties exchange assessment information aboutother actors, such as web sites, quality of service of an InternetService Provider or the like. Reputation is defined as an estimation inwhich a person or a thing is held trustworthy by the community or thepublic in general. Reputations can be described for multiple attributes;an e-commerce site may be rated on price, speed of delivery, customerservice, etc., and might receive different ratings on each. There is aReputation Service that is queried to provide reputation about anentity. In the reputation response, there is information about a rating,an identity of the entity providing the reputation response, an entitybeing rated, an overall rating score of the entity, a level ofconfidence in that accuracy of the rating.

In the state of the art of multi-agent trust based cooperation, trust isusually calculated either as a function of previous interactions insimple terms such as success/failure rate, or agent reputation. In manyscenarios, the trust is therefore not sufficiently accurate.

SUMMARY

An object may be to improve accuracy of a score for the agents, e.g. atrust level between two agents in a system of the abovementioned kind.

According to an aspect, the object is achieved by a method in acommunication device for determining a score relating to a first agentmodule. The first agent module is included in an agent community managedby an agent community module. The communication device receivesinformation relating to at least one request, performed by any furtheragent module, for consumption of a capability of the first agent module,wherein said any further agent module is included in the agentcommunity. The information relating to the performed request includesinformation about the capability of the first agent module, informationabout an intention of the first agent module, wherein the intentionspecifies a set of actions that consumes the capability in order tofulfil the request, and information about a policy for the capability,wherein the policy restricts, in terms of one or more of time, space,speed and hardware used by the first agent module, consumption of thecapability when the first agent module acts according to its intentionin order to fulfil the request. Furthermore, the communication devicecalculates the score in relation to the first agent module based on theinformation relating to the performed request, wherein the score furtheris specified with respect to the capability.

According to another aspect, the object is achieved by a communicationdevice configured for determining a score relating to a first agentmodule. The first agent module is included in an agent community managedby an agent community module. The communication device is furtherconfigured for receiving information relating to at least one request,performed by any further agent module, for consumption of a capabilityof the first agent module, wherein said any further agent module isincluded in the agent community. The information relating to theperformed request includes information about the capability of the firstagent module, information about an intention of the first agent module,wherein the intention specifies a set of actions that consumes thecapability in order to fulfil the request, and information about apolicy for the capability, wherein the policy restricts, in terms of oneor more of time, space, speed and hardware used by the first agentmodule, consumption of the capability when the first agent module actsaccording to its intention in order to fulfil the request. Moreover, thecommunication device is configured for calculating the score in relationto the first agent module based on the information relating to theperformed request, wherein the score further is specified with respectto the capability.

According to further aspects, the object is achieved by a computerprogram and a computer program carrier corresponding to the aspectsabove.

Thanks to that the information relating to the performed request furtherincludes the information about the intention of the first agent moduleand the information about the policy for the capability, thecommunication device is able to calculate the score, e.g.

a trust level, a trust score, a trust value, a value or the like, bytaking into account a combination of three measures, i.e. informationabout the capability, the intention and the policy. For each capabilityof the first agent, the communication device may calculate a respectivescore. Hence, since also the intention and the policy is taken intoaccount a more accurate score is obtained by the calculation performedby the communication device. As a result, the abovementioned object isachieved.

An advantage is agent may more accurately determine whether or not totrust a peer agent, e.g. by comparing the score to a threshold value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various aspects of embodiments disclosed herein, includingparticular features and advantages thereof, will be readily understoodfrom the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic overview of an exemplifying system in whichembodiments herein may be implemented,

FIG. 2 is a combined signaling and flowchart illustrating embodiments ofthe methods herein,

FIG. 3 is a combined signaling and flowchart illustrating furtherembodiments of the methods herein,

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating embodiments of the method in thecommunication device, and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating embodiments of the communicationdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout the following description similar reference numerals havebeen used to denote similar features, such as nodes, actions, modules,circuits, parts, items, elements, units or the like, when applicable. Inthe Figures, features that appear in some embodiments are indicated bydashed lines.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplifying system 100 in which embodiments hereinmay be implemented.

The system comprises a plurality of communication devices—to bepresented in more detail in the subsequent paragraph—, which may becommunicatively connected to each other by means of a Global System forMobile communication (GSM) network. In other examples, the network 100may be any cellular or wireless communication system, such as a LongTerm Evolution (LTE), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS)and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), a wiredcircuit switched system, a wired Internet Protocol (IP) network, acomputer network or the like.

In more detail, the system 100 comprises a first communication device111, which may comprise a first agent module 110. The system 100 alsocomprises a second communication device 121, which may comprise a secondagent module 120. Furthermore, the system 100 comprises a thirdcommunication device 131, which may comprise a third agent module 130,as referred to as an agent community module 130. Additionally, thesystem 100 may comprise a fourth and a fifth communication device 141,151, which may comprise a fourth and a fifth agent module 140, 150,respectively. The fourth and/or fifth agent module 140, 150 may bereferred to as “any further agent module” herein.

Above an expression that can be generalized to “communication devicecomprising an agent module” may mean that the agent module is executedby, or on, the communication device, in case the agent module isrealized as a software module. However, in other examples, the agentmodule may be realized as a hardware module, in which case thegeneralized expression may be understood to mean that the agent moduleis enclosed within the same casing, typically a plastic or metallic box,as the communication device.

The first, second and/or fourth communication device 111, 121, 141and/or the first, second and/or fourth agent module 110, 120, 140 maycommunicate 160, wirelessly or by wired connection, with the thirdcommunication device 131 and/or the agent community module 130.

The agent modules above may have different capabilities. For example,the fifth agent module 150 may be a robot that is capable of lifting,moving and putting down items, such as boxes, products, constructionelements for buildings etc. As a further example, the agent module 140may be edge cloud service, which for example identifies objects inimages provided to the edge cloud service. These agent modules 140, 150are different. Therefore, the system 100 is said to include acollaborative network of heterogeneous agent modules, such as IoTdevices, edge cloud agents, robots etc.

In the following description, the embodiments herein may be implementedin the second communication device 121. However, as shall be described,the embodiments may in some cases be implemented in the thirdcommunication device 131. Let's generally consider the case when theembodiments are implemented in the second communication device 121. Thecases when the embodiments are implemented in the third communicationdevice 131 will be mentioned explicitly below.

Before proceeding with the description of FIGS. 2 and 3, it shall benoted that all of, or at least one of, the actions in FIG. 2 may beperformed completely or partly in parallel with all of, or at least oneof, the action in FIG. 3. As an example, this means that at least one ofthe actions of FIG. 2 may be executed in a first thread and that atleast one of the actions of FIG. 3 may be executed in a second thread,wherein the first and second threads origin from a computer programaccording to the embodiments herein.

As used herein, the term “capability” may refer to a service, an action,a resource or the like, that is provided and/or executed upon request.

As used herein, the term “intention” may mean that, at any given time,an agent module presents its intention as a set of actions that consume(or use) one or more capabilities, its own or that of other agentmodules or a combination thereof.

As used herein, the term “policy” may refer to an invariant restrictionrelating to consumption, e.g. provision, of one or more capabilitieswhen the agent module acts according to its intention in order to fulfilthe request. In one example, a robot may have a policy that says itshall never get too close to another robot, i.e. a safety policy. Inanother example, a cloud agent needs to execute an application A at timeY, with a policy that the execution of application A does not consumemore than X resources.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplifying method according to embodimentsherein when implemented in the system 100 of FIG. 1. As mentioned, thefirst and/or second communication device 121, 131 may be used to realizethe embodiments herein. Hence, the term “communication device 121, 131”may sometimes be used to refer to the first and/or third communicationdevice 121, 131.

Accordingly, the communication device 121, 131 performs a method fordetermining a score relating to the first agent module 110. The firstagent module 110 is included in an agent community 101 managed by theagent community module 130.

When the embodiments herein are implemented in the second communicationdevice 121, this means that the second communication device 121 performsthe method for determining the score relating to the first agent module110. The first agent module 110 is included in the agent community 101managed by the agent community module 130, which may be executed in thethird communication device 131.

When the embodiments herein are implemented in the third communicationdevice 131, this means that the third communication device 131 performsthe method for determining the score relating to the first agent module110. The first agent module 110 is again included in the agent community101 managed by the agent community module 130, which may again beexecuted by the third communication device 131 itself.

In one example, the third communication device 131 and/or the agentcommunity module 130 may include, such as implement, be realized,execute or the like, a so called publish/subscribe server, which is awell-known server in the relevant technical field. In this context, anagent module that publishes information at the publish/subscribe serversends the information to the publish/subscribe server in order to allowthe publish/subscribe server to provide the information, sent to thepublish/subscribe server, to any agent module that subscribes to suchinformation.

As mentioned, the following description assumes the embodiments hereinto be implemented in the second communication device 121, except whenexplicitly described that the third communication device 131 implementsthe embodiments herein.

The capability may comprise one or more of a service, a resource and anaction performable by the first agent module 110 or any other agentmodule.

As mentioned, the first and/or second agent module 110, 120 may compriseone or more of: a software agent module, a hardware agent module, aresource agent module, and a robot.

One or more of the following actions may be performed in any suitableorder.

Action A010

In order to join the agent community 101, the second communicationdevice 121 and/or the second agent module 120 may send a request forjoining the agent community 101 to the third communication device 131and/or the agent community module 130.

Action A020

Similarly to action A010, the first communication device 111 and/or thefirst agent module 110 may send a further request for joining the agentcommunity 101 to the third communication device 131 and/or the agentcommunity module 130. In the following, the agent community module 130is omitted for simplicity. However, when the third communication device131 is mentioned it shall be understood that it may instead, or inaddition thereto, mean the agent community module 130.

Action A030

Subsequent to action A010 and/or A020, the third communication device131 may receive the request and/or the further request.

Generally, whenever an agent module wishes to join the agent community101, it needs to agree to report its behaviour, such as intention(s),policy(ies), capability(ies), according to requirements configured inthe agent community module 130.

Action A040

Upon receiving the request and/or the further request, the thirdcommunication device 131 sends an instruction to report behaviour to thefirst and/or second communication device 111, 121. Similarly to theabove, in the following, the first and/or second agent module 110, 120are omitted for simplicity. However, when the first and/or secondcommunication device 111, 121 is mentioned, it shall be understood thatit may instead, or in addition thereto, mean the first and/or secondagent module 110, 120.

One and the same instruction may thus be sent to all agents that jointhe agent community 101 by sending a request to the third communicationdevice 131 and/or the agent community module 130.

Action A050

Subsequent to action A040, the second communication device 121 mayreceive the instruction.

Action A060

Subsequent to action A040, the first communication device 111 mayreceive the instruction.

Now that the first and second communication devices 111, 121 may havebeen instructed to report their behaviour actions A070, A080 and A090may be performed.

Actions A070, A080 and A090 may be performed repeatedly, periodically orirregularly, as a loop. However, in some cases, the first and secondcommunication devices 111, 121 may not need to be instructed to reporttheir behaviour, instead the first and second communication devices 111,121 pushes their behaviour to the third communication device 131, i.e.the agent community module 130 without prior instruction.

The agent modules 110, 120, 140, 150 thus may repeatedly communicatetheir intentions, capabilities and policies. This information ispublished to the agent community module 130 as in actions A070 and/orA080.

Action A070

The second communication device 121 may send a report about itsbehaviour to the third communication device 131. To be explicit, thesecond agent module 120 may send the report to the agent communitymodule 130, but this clarification may not be repeated for otherexamples below for reasons of simplicity.

In this manner, the second communication device 121 may be said toreport its own behaviour, which may mean that information about acapability of the second agent module 120, information about anintention of the second agent module 120, information about a policy forthe capability of the second agent module 120, and a time stamp may bereported to the third communication device 131.

Expressed differently, the communication device 121, 131 may publish theinformation about the capability of the second agent module 120, theinformation about the intention of the second agent module 120, theinformation about the policy for the capability of the second agentmodule 120, and the time stamp e.g. relating to the publishing.

Action A080

The first communication device 111 may send a further report about itsbehaviour to the third communication device 131.

Action A090

Subsequent to one or more of actions A070 and A080, the thirdcommunication device 131 may receive the report and the further reportfrom the second and first communication devices 121, 111, respectively.

In view of actions A070 through A090, it may be noted that the reportmay include information about a capability, an intention and a policyfor an agent module that sends the report, e.g. the first and secondcommunication devices 111, 121. The capability, the intention and thepolicy will be explain in more detail below.

Above, the instruction of action A040 is directed towards reporting ofown behaviour. However, in addition or alternatively, the instructionmay be directed towards reporting of information relating to requests,performed by any further agent module 140, 150, for consumption of acapability of another agent module, such as the first agent module 110.Since the information is related to requests performed by said anyfurther agent module, the information may be said to include history ofrequests, or historical outcome of requests.

Action A100

Hence, the second communication device 121 may send history, e.g.information relating to a request performed by the second communicationdevice 121. In this manner, the second communication device 121 may besaid to report history of its own requests for consumption of acapability.

Expressed differently, the communication device 121, 131 may publishinformation about a capability of said further agent module 140, 150,information about an intention of said further agent module 140, 150,information about a policy for the capability of said further agentmodule 140, 150, and a time stamp relating to the publishing.

Action A110

Similarly, the first communication device 111 may send history, e.g.information relating to a further request performed by the firstcommunication device 111.

Action A120

Subsequent to action A100 and/or A110, the third communication device131 may receive history for one or more requests performed by the firstand/or second communication device 111, 121.

Also these actions, i.e. action A100-A120, may be performed repeatedly,periodically or irregularly, as a loop. However, in some cases, thefirst and second communication devices 111, 121 may not need to beinstructed to report history of requests, instead the first and secondcommunication devices 111, 121 pushes their history to the thirdcommunication device 131, i.e. the agent community module 130 withoutprior instruction.

Action A130

This action is performed when the embodiments herein are implemented inthe third communication device 131 and/or the agent community module130. Hence, when action A090 and A120 have been performed, the thirdcommunication device 131 may calculate a respective score for eachcapability and each agent module, such as the first and second agentmodules 110, 120, that has joined the agent community 101. Thecalculation of the score is described in more detail below.

In the following, the description continues with reference to the casewhen the embodiments are implemented in the second communication device121.

Action A140

In order to prepare the second communication device 121, in case a needfor a certain capability arise, the second communication device 121 maysend a subscription request for capability, i.e. a subscription requestfor the certain capability. The subscription request may typically besent to the agent community module 130 and/or the third communicationdevice 131.

Action A150

Subsequent to action A140, the third communication device 131 mayreceive the subscription request for capability. Since the thirdcommunication device 131 may have received reports of behaviour as wellas history, the third communication device 131 is able to determinewhich of the agents in the community 101 that has the requestedcapability.

Action A160

Upon managing the subscription request for capability, the thirdcommunication device 131 sends information relating to at least onerequest, performed by any further agent module 140, 150, for consumptionof the capability of the first agent module 110. Said any further agentmodule 140, 150 is included in the agent community 101.

The information relating to the performed request includes

-   -   information about the capability of the first agent module 110,    -   information about an intention of the first agent module 110,        wherein the intention specifies a set of actions that consumes        the capability in order to fulfil the request, and    -   information about a policy for the capability, wherein the        policy restricts, in terms of one or more of time, space, speed        and hardware used by the first agent module 110, consumption of        the capability when the first agent module 110 acts according to        its intention in order to fulfil the request.        In this manner, the third communication device 131 informs the        second communication device 121 about history of performed        requests with respect to the first communication device 111.

Action A170

Consequently, the second communication device 121 receives theinformation relating to said at least one request, performed by said anyfurther agent module 140, 150, for consumption of the capability of thefirst agent module 110.

Now that the second communication device 121 is made aware of thehistory of performed requests with respect to the first communicationdevice 111, the second communication device 121 is able to calculate ascore in the relation to the first agent module 110 as in action A180below.

Action A180

Thus, the communication device 121 calculates the score in relation tothe first agent module 110 based on the information relating to theperformed request, wherein the score further is specified with respectto the capability.

The reported behaviour together with the observed history of other agentmodules may thus be used for calculating the score, such as a trust,trust level or the like, between agent modules. The calculated trust maysubsequently be used when choosing to whom an agent module willprovision its capability.

In view of FIG. 2, there is provided a method for building a trustmodel, such as a way to calculate the score, in a collaborative networkof agent modules.

Agent modules share the same or similar communication protocol, i.e.each agent is communicating information about their intentions, e.g.plan, schedule, goals and states, etc., capabilities, e.g. hardwareresources, services it can provide, actions it can perform, etc., andpolicies. It may be that the agent modules of the agent community 101have synchronized clocks, and that time evolves with same pace in theagent modules.

The communication protocol between the agent modules may be realized indifferent ways for e.g. by using a publish/subscribe pattern, such asusing data distribution service (DDS) middleware, a publish/subtribeserver or the like.

In this way, it is assumed that the agent modules can communicate witheach other. Agent modules are capable of finding one or more agents,which for a given interoperability scenario.

In one embodiment, the agent modules may share a holistic and abstractedview of the capabilities, such as resources, services or actions, ofeach agent module. Other agent modules utilize such holistic andabstracted view, such as a catalogue, to identify matching requestedcapabilities, intentions and policies and agent modules that can providethese capabilities given the request intentions and policies. Atechnology to use for this can be based on the Semantic Web thatprovides a way to add “meaning and relatedness” to objects on the Web.As such, in the multi-agent system, one needs to define an ontology ofcapabilities for normalizing meaning across terminology or properties.One possible implementation format is using Resource DescriptionFramework (RDF) techniques, e.g. the inter-cloud ontology defined in“Towards an Ontology-Based Intercloud Resource Catalogue—The IEEE P2302Intercloud Approach for a Semantic Resource Exchange”, to B. Di Martinoet al., IEEE International Conference on Cloud Engineering (IC2E), April2015. Another possible approach could be the application of “languagegames” among agents, as in “Learning Language Games throughInteraction”, to Wang, Sida I., Percy Liang, and Christopher D. Manning,in arXiv Preprint arXiv:1606.02447, 2016.https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.02447, which consists on making the agentsinteract with each other exchanging messages about their world views,intentions and capabilities. Based on that exchange, the agent modulesmay come up with a mapping between their ways of referring to things.Other standards for semantic interoperability and interfacestandardization, such as hypercat (http://www.hypercat.io/) or IPSO(www.ipso-alliance.org), could also be used for establishing a linguafranca among agent modules.

Calculation of Score

In the following an exemplifying way of calculating the score isdescribed. The score may be computed as a function of historyobservations vs. intentions, capabilities and policies. For example,Agent1 publishes the observable history of all the agents except itself,i.e., Agent2, Agent3 . . . Agentn.

Based on our previous definition of trust, we have defined the trustlevel of agent i on agent j's capabilities c as:

T _(ijc) =f(I, P, C, H, t)

where:

-   -   I: are the intentions declared by agent j, i.e. current goals        and plans; the plans can be for example a sequence of actions        which are executed using a certain capability of the agent. For        example, a robot may execute a plan using its capability to move        and lift packages. A cloud agent may have an intention to        perform computation, and it can report its computation schedule.    -   P: are policies applied to the intentions declared by agent j.        They constrain behaviours. For example, a robot agent would not        make any move if it is within a certain distance of another        robot agent; the policy for an edge cloud would be to provide        responses within a certain time.    -   C: is the set of capabilities declared by agent j, e.g.        processing power, skills, services, etc. For example, an edge        cloud may offer a service (i.e. have a capability) for        aggregating and computing data coming from Iot devices.    -   H: is the history of decisions made by agent j according to        previous intentions and what agent j actually did, as observed        by agent i or as informed by a trusted authority; For example,        the history of an edge cloud agent could report how (seen by        others) that agent has performed the aggregation and computation        service with respect to its policies, e.g. did it respond on        time and did it really provide results as specified in the        service. Or an edge cloud agent could report how the other agent        has consumed the capability, e.g. did it over-consume a resource        or did it consume a resource different from its claimed        intentions.    -   t: is the current time, e.g. as synchronized among all agent        modules in the agent community 101.

Agent1 will trust Agent2 based on a function of the above over a timeperiod. Each agent may compute this in a different way depending on whatis important to it. For example, it may be important to compute only fora small part of the recent past time, or it may be useful only tocompute with respect to a given capability of a set of capabilities orsome intentions, in a given situation. Typically, the score by one agentmodule towards another would be on a scale of −1 to 1. In the case whenit didn't have enough information, trust level would be zero, whichwould mean that it neither trusted nor distrusted the other agent.

With reference to FIG. 3, it is described how an agent module, e.g.included in the second communication device 121, may use the calculatedscore to determine with which agent module to interact with, or whetheror not to accept a request for consumption of a capability from an agentmodule. Thus, FIG. 3 illustrates further exemplifying methods accordingto embodiments herein when implemented in the system 100 of FIG. 1.

One or more of the following actions may be performed in any suitableorder.

Action B010

The second communication device 121 may identify a need for a particularcapability.

Action B020

Thus, the second communication device 121 may send, to the agentcommunity module 130, a request for a set of agent modules having theparticular capability,

Action B030

Subsequent to action B020, the third communication device 131 mayreceive the request for the agent modules having the particularcapability.

Action B040

Thanks to that, as described above with reference to FIG. 2, agentmodules report their behaviour to the third communication device 131,the third communication device 131 is able to identify which agentmodules that have the particular capability. Then, the thirdcommunication device 131 may send a set of agent modules with theparticular capability to the second communication device 121. In fact,it is rather the case that a set of indications of the set of agentmodules having the particular capability is sent to the secondcommunication device 121.

Action B050

Subsequent to action B040, the communication device 121, 131 mayreceive, from the agent community module 130, the set of agent modules,i.e. the set of indication of the set of agent modules as explainedabove.

Action B060

The second communication device 121 may select, from among the set ofagent modules, a particular agent module for interaction with the secondagent module 120, wherein the particular agent module is selected basedon a respective score for each of the agent modules of the set. Therespective score may have been calculated as described above. A set ofrespective score may comprise each respective score for all agentmodules.

As an example, the second communication device 121 may select the agentmodule for which the respective score is the highest, or among thehighest, of the set of respective scores.

As another example, the second communication device 121 may select anyagent module for which the respective score is above a threshold valuefor acceptable score.

Action B070

The second communication device 121 may send a request for consumptionof the particular capability to the agent module selected in actionB060, which may be included in the first communication device 111.

Action B080

Subsequent to action B070, the first communication device 111 mayreceive the request.

Action B090

The first communication device 111 may confirm back to the secondcommunication device 121 that it will provide the requested capability,e.g. by sending a indication about the selected agent module. This maybe performed after the first communication device 111 has checked thatthe score towards the second communication device 121 is acceptable.

Action B100

Subsequent to action B090, the second communication device 121 mayreceive the indication about the selected agent module.

Action B110

The second communication device 121 may send, to the first communicationdevice 111, a confirmation that the capability shall be provided by thefirst communication device 111 for consumption by the secondcommunication device 121.

Action B120

Subsequent to action B110, the first communication device 111 mayreceive the confirmation.

Example Implementation of a Communication Protocol Between the AgentModules

The following non-limiting implementation uses Representation statetransfer (REST)ful Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) sessions andJavaScript Object Notation (JSON) schema and an HTTP pub/sub server.

As mentioned above, the agent modules may send HTTP post messages. Instructure 1, an exemplifying HTTP post message is shown. Theexemplifying HTTP post message may originate from a cloud agent module,which presents its intentions, capabilities, policies and timestamp. Inthe intentions, the agent module reports its computational schedule i.e.plan for a given time period. The policy is to have a delay less 20 s,and the capability describes two types of capabilities i.e. what kind ofresources the agent can provide and what kind of services it can offer.

{   ″AgentID″: 17,  ″AgentName″: ″EdgeCloud_1″,  ″Intention″:      [         {″computational state schedule″:              {                 ″cpu″:″10Core″,                  ″mem″:″2G″                 ″nw″:″100Mps″               “period”:”467393984949-467393985145”              }           ...              {                 ″cpu″:″12Core″,                  ″mem″:″2.5G″                 ″nw″:″100Mps″              “period”:”467393998111-467393999999”              }          }      ]     ″Policy″:      [          {              ″type″:″delay threshold″             ″value″:″20s″          },          {             ″type″:″distance threshold″              ″value″:″5km″         }      ],      ″Capability″:      [          {             ″type″:″resource″              ″typeValue″:″GPU″             ″value″:″200G″          },          {             ″type″:″service″              ″typeValue″:″graphic gaming″             ″value″:″20 users″          }      ],      ″time″:″467393984949″ } Structure 1 above: HTTP post message from a cloud agent

In Structure 2 below, a further exemplifying HTTP post message isillustrated. The HTTP post message may originate from a robot, whichpresents its intentions, capabilities, policies and timestamp. In theintentions, the robot reports its action plan for a given time period.The policy is to always hold a distance from other robots at least 15cm, and the capability describes the types of actions the robot canperform, that can be used when collaborating with other robots.

{   ″AgentID″:  ″AgentName″: 31,  ″Intention″: ″RobotAgent_3″,      [         {″action plan″:              {                 “action″:″move(a,b)″              “period”:”467393977777-467393977827”              }               {                 “action″:″pickup(package12,b)″              “period”:”467393977830-467393977834”              }            {                 “action″:″move(b,c)″              “period”:”467393977836-467393977880”              }            {                 “action″:″drop(package12,c)″              “period”:”467393977885-467393977888”              }      ],      ″Policy″:     [        {              ″type″:″distance threshold″             ″value″:″15cm″          }      ],      ″Capability″:      [         {              ″type″:″action″             ″typeValue″:″move_action″              ″value″:″ move(loc0,loc1)          },          {              ″type″:″action″             ″typeValue″:″pickup″              ″value″:″pickup(object,loc)″          }polo          {              ″type″:″action″             ″typeValue″:″drop_action″             ″value″:″drop(object, loc)″          }      ],      ″time″:″467393977777″ } Structure 2: HTTP post message from an agent module,such a robot.

Furthermore, e.g. with reference to actions A100 and/or A110, thehistory may be published to the agent community module according toStructure 3 below.

″History″: ″ObservedAgentID″: 31, ″ObservedAgentName″: ″RobotAgent_3″, {″action plan observation″: [    {      “action″:″move(a,b)″           “period”:” 467393977800”    },    {     “action″:″pickup(package12,b)″            “period″:” 467393977835”   },    {      “action″:″move(b,c)″            “period″:” 467393977875”   },    {      “action″:″drop(package12,c)″            “period″:”467393977890”    }]  ″Intent_ld″: ″Movement_Plan_09812747748578″   }Structure 3 above: Another exemplifying HTTP post message.

According to the embodiments herein, there is proposed a method fordynamic trust-based, i.e. dependent on the score, collaborativeresource/service/action provisioning based on a communication protocolin which the agent modules agree to share their capabilities, intentionsand policies. As mentioned before, resource/service/action is sometimesreferred to as capability herein. The trust, i.e. the score, iscalculated as a function of published history of a given agent module'scapability as seen from other agent modules. This method increases thetrustfulness and capability sharing in the agent community 101.

Thanks to the embodiments of the methods proposed herein, primarily asshown in FIG. 2, a method for collaboratively publishing agent modules'capabilities, intentions and policies and publishing historyobservations seen by other agent modules with respect to thecapabilities, intentions and policies is provided. The historyobservations thus relate to outcome of requests for consumption of acapability from an agent module. This agent module then publishes theoutcome to the agent community module. In this manner, the basis onwhich the score is dynamically, e.g. more or less continuously updated,such that the respective scores for one or more agent modules withrespect to one or more capabilities thereof may also be dynamicallyupdated. Hence, there may often be a recently calculated score to beused at any time when required due to a request for consumption of aparticular capability.

Furthermore, as illustrated with reference to FIG. 3 above, there isprovided a method for using the calculated score in deciding whether agiven agent module will serve another agent module, i.e. for providingthe requested capability, and on which agent module another agent modulewill request the capability to be performed.

It shall be noted, as described above, that the score is calculatedbased on a combination of: C, P, and I. In particular, this means thatthe score is calculated with respect to a certain capability, ratherthan an agent as a whole, while the agent modules intentions andpolicies with respect to the certain capability is taken into account.

Moreover, it shall be noted that the score is derived by comparing anagent modules capability, intention and policy versus history of theagent module with respect to these measures.

An advantage may be, at least for some embodiments, that accuracy ofscores, e.g. relating to a trust level, is improved thanks to thathistory of past requests for consumption of a capability in combinationwith intention and policy for that capability is taken into account whencalculating the score. For example, the score may thus includeinformation about whether or not a particular agent module may or maynot keep its promises with respect to provisioning of the capability,e.g. by not over consuming a resource, such as memory, processing power,spatial allowance or the like.

A further advantage may be, at least for some embodiments, that thecalculation of the score is automatic in that no manual intervention isrequired.

A still further advantage may be, at least for some embodiments, thatthe methods herein provide an easy way of identifying a non-trustedagent in the agent community e.g. by means of evaluating the score inrelation to a threshold value. A score below the threshold value maycause an agent module to be excluded from the agent community.Accordingly, agent modules may avoid interaction with untrusted agentmodules, i.e. those agent modules having a score less than the thresholdvalue.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, it shall be noted that the term“communication device” is used to refer to the second communicationdevice 121 and/or the third communication device 131.

In FIG. 4, a schematic flowchart of exemplifying methods in thecommunication device 121, 132 is shown. Again, the same referencenumerals as above have been used to denote the same or similar features,in particular the same reference numerals have been used to denote thesame or similar actions. Accordingly, the communication device 121, 131performs a method for determining a score relating to a first agentmodule 110. As mentioned, the first agent module 110 is included in anagent community 101 managed by an agent community module 130.

The first and/or second agent module 110, 120 may comprise one or moreof: a software agent module, a hardware agent module, a resource agentmodule, and a robot.

In this flowchart some of the actions of FIGS. 2 and 3 above may havebeen omitted for reasons of simplicity.

One or more of the following actions may be performed in any suitableorder.

Action A170

The communication device 121, 131 receives information relating to atleast one request, performed by any further agent module 140, 150, forconsumption of a capability of the first agent module 110, wherein saidany further agent module 140, 150 is included in the agent community101.

The information relating to the performed request includes:

-   -   information about the capability of the first agent module 110,    -   information about an intention of the first agent module 110,        wherein the intention specifies a set of actions that consumes        the capability in order to fulfil the request, and    -   information about a policy for the capability, wherein the        policy restricts, in terms of one or more of time, space, speed        and hardware used by the first agent module 110, consumption of        the capability when the first agent module 110 acts according to        its intention in order to fulfil the request.

The capability may comprise one or more of a service, a resource and anaction performable by the first agent module 110.

Action A180

The communication device 121, 131 calculates the score in relation tothe first agent module 110 based on the information relating to theperformed request, wherein the score further is specified with respectto the capability.

Action C010

The communication device 121, 131 may provide the score, e.g. uponreception of a request for the score to be provided, such as sent to therequester. Alternatively or additionally, the communication device 121,131 may periodically, or irregularly, provide the score to anyinterested party, such as all agent modules in the agent community 101.

With reference to FIG. 5, a schematic block diagram of embodiments ofthe communication device 121, 131 is shown.

The communication device 121, 131 may comprise a processing module 501,such as a means for performing the methods described herein. The meansmay be embodied in the form of one or more hardware modules and/or oneor more software modules

The communication device 121, 131 may further comprise a memory 502. Thememory may comprise, such as contain or store, instructions, e.g. in theform of a computer program 503, which may comprise computer readablecode units.

According to some embodiments herein, the communication device 121, 131and/or the processing module 501 comprises a processing circuit 504 asan exemplifying hardware module, which may comprise one or moreprocessors. Accordingly, the processing module 501 may be embodied inthe form of, or ‘realized by’, the processing circuit 504. Theinstructions may be executable by the processing circuit 504, wherebythe communication device 121, 131 is operative to perform the methods ofFIG. 2, 3 and/or 4. As another example, the instructions, when executedby the communication device 121, 131 and/or the processing circuit 504,may cause the communication device 121, 131 to perform the methodaccording to FIG. 2, 3 and/or 4.

In view of the above, in one example, there is provided a communicationdevice 121, 131 for determining a score relating to a first agent module110. Again, the memory 502 contains the instructions executable by saidprocessing circuit 504 whereby the communication device 121, 131 isoperative for:

-   -   receiving information relating to at least one request,        performed by any further agent module 140, 150, for consumption        of a capability of the first agent module 110, wherein said any        further agent module 140, 150 is included in the agent community        101, wherein the information relating to the performed request        includes:        -   information about the capability of the first agent module            110,        -   information about an intention of the first agent module            110, wherein the intention specifies a set of actions that            consumes the capability in order to fulfil the request, and        -   information about a policy for the capability, wherein the            policy restricts, in terms of one or more of time, space,            speed and hardware used by the first agent module 110,            consumption of the capability when the first agent module            110 acts according to its intention in order to fulfil the            request, and    -   calculating the score in relation to the first agent module 110        based on the information relating to the performed request,        wherein the score further is specified with respect to the        capability.

FIG. 5 further illustrates a carrier 505, or computer program carrier,which comprises the computer program 503 as described directly above.

In some embodiments, the communication device 121, 131 and/or theprocessing module 501 may comprise one or more of a receiving module510, a calculating module 520, a publishing module 530, a sending module540, and a selecting module 550 as exemplifying hardware modules. Inother examples, one or more of the aforementioned exemplifying hardwaremodules may be implemented as one or more software modules.

Moreover, the communication device 121, 131 and/or the processing module501 comprises an Input/Output unit 506, which may be exemplified by thereceiving module and/or the sending module when applicable.

Accordingly, the communication device 121, 131 is configured fordetermining a score relating to a first agent module 110. As mentioned,the first agent module 110 is included in an agent community 101 managedby an agent community module 130.

Therefore, according to the various embodiments described above, thecommunication device 121, 131 and/or the processing module 501 and/orthe receiving module 510 is configured for receiving informationrelating to at least one request, performed by any further agent module140, 150 for consumption of a capability of the first agent module 110.Said any further agent module 140, 150 is included in the agentcommunity 101. The capability may comprise one or more of a service, aresource and an action performable by the first agent module 110.

As mentioned, the information relating to the performed requestincludes: information about the capability of the first agent module110, information about an intention of the first agent module 110,wherein the intention specifies a set of actions that consumes thecapability in order to fulfil the request, and information about apolicy for the capability, wherein the policy restricts, in terms of oneor more of time, space, speed and hardware used by the first agentmodule 110, consumption of the capability when the first agent module110 acts according to its intention in order to fulfil the request.

Moreover, the communication device 121, 131 and/or the processing module501 and/or the calculating module 520 is configured for calculating thescore in relation to the first agent module 110 based on the informationrelating to the performed request. The score further is specified withrespect to the capability.

The communication device 121, 131 and/or the processing module 501and/or the publishing module 530 may be configured for publishinginformation about a capability of the second agent module 120,information about an intention of the second agent module 120,information about a policy applied to the intention of the second agentmodule 120, a time stamp relating to the publishing.

The communication device 121, 131 and/or the processing module 501and/or the publishing module 530, or a further publishing module (notshown), may be configured for publishing information about a capabilityof said further agent module 140, 150, information about an intention ofsaid further agent module 140, 150, information about a policy appliedto the intention of said further agent module 140, 150, a time stamprelating to the publishing.

The communication device 121, 131 and/or the processing module 501and/or the sending module 540 may be configured for sending, to an agentcommunity module 130, a request for a set of agent modules having aparticular capability, receiving, from the agent community module 130,the set of agent modules.

Furthermore, the communication device 121, 131 and/or the processingmodule 501 and/or the selecting module 550 may be configured forselecting, from among the set of agent modules, a particular agentmodule for interaction with the second agent module 120, wherein theparticular agent module is selected based on a respective score for eachof the agent modules of the set.

As used herein, the term “communication device”, may refer to a singlephysical entity or one or more physical entities, such as devices,apparatuses, computers, servers or the like. This may mean thatembodiments herein may be implemented in one physical entity.Alternatively, the embodiments herein may be implemented in a pluralityof physical entities, such as an arrangement comprising said one or morephysical entities, i.e. the embodiments may be implemented in adistributed manner, such as on a set of server machines of a cloudsystem.

As used herein, the term “module” may refer to one or more functionalmodules, each of which may be implemented as one or more hardwaremodules and/or one or more software modules and/or a combinedsoftware/hardware module in a node. In some examples, the module mayrepresent a functional unit realized as software and/or hardware of thenode.

As used herein, the term “computer program carrier”, “program carrier”,or “carrier”, may refer to one of an electronic signal, an opticalsignal, a radio signal, and a computer readable medium. In someexamples, the computer program carrier may exclude transitory,propagating signals, such as the electronic, optical and/or radiosignal. Thus, in these examples, the computer program carrier may be anon-transitory carrier, such as a non-transitory computer readablemedium.

As used herein, the term “processing module” may include one or morehardware modules, one or more software modules or a combination thereof.Any such module, be it a hardware, software or a combinedhardware-software module, may be a determining means, estimating means,capturing means, associating means, comparing means, identificationmeans, selecting means, receiving means, sending means or the like asdisclosed herein. As an example, the expression “means” may be a modulecorresponding to the modules listed above in conjunction with theFigures.

As used herein, the term “software module” may refer to a softwareapplication, a Dynamic Link Library (DLL), a software component, asoftware object, an object according to Component Object Model (COM), asoftware component, a software function, a software engine, anexecutable binary software file or the like.

The terms “processing module” or “processing circuit” may hereinencompass a processing unit, comprising e.g. one or more processors, anApplication Specific integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA) or the like. The processing circuit or the like maycomprise one or more processor kernels.

As used herein, the expression “configured to/for” may mean that aprocessing circuit is configured to, such as adapted to or operative to,by means of software configuration and/or hardware configuration,perform one or more of the actions described herein.

As used herein, the term “action” may refer to an action, a step, anoperation, a response, a reaction, an activity or the like. It shall benoted that an action herein may be split into two or more sub-actions asapplicable. Moreover, also as applicable, it shall be noted that two ormore of the actions described herein may be merged into a single action.

As used herein, the term “memory” may refer to a hard disk, a magneticstorage medium, a portable computer diskette or disc, flash memory,random access memory (RAM) or the like. Furthermore, the term “memory”may refer to an internal register memory of a processor or the like.

As used herein, the term “computer readable medium” may be a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) memory, a DVD-disc, a Blu-ray disc, a software modulethat is received as a stream of data, a Flash memory, a hard drive, amemory card, such as a MemoryStick, a Multimedia Card (MMC), SecureDigital (SD) card, etc. One or more of the aforementioned examples ofcomputer readable medium may be provided as one or more computer programproducts.

As used herein, the term “computer readable code units” may be text of acomputer program, parts of or an entire binary file representing acomputer program in a compiled format or anything there between.

As used herein, the expression “transmit” and “send” are considered tobe interchangeable. These expressions include transmission bybroadcasting, uni-casting, group-casting and the like. In this context,a transmission by broadcasting may be received and decoded by anyauthorized device within range. In case of uni-casting, one specificallyaddressed device may receive and decode the transmission. In case ofgroup-casting, a group of specifically addressed devices may receive anddecode the transmission.

As used herein, the terms “number” and/or “value” may be any kind ofdigit, such as binary, real, imaginary or rational number or the like.Moreover, “number” and/or “value” may be one or more characters, such asa letter or a string of letters. “Number” and/or “value” may also berepresented by a string of bits, i.e. zeros and/or ones.

As used herein, the term “set of” may refer to one or more of something.E.g. a set of devices may refer to one or more devices, a set ofparameters may refer to one or more parameters or the like according tothe embodiments herein.

As used herein, the expression “in some embodiments” has been used toindicate that the features of the embodiment described may be combinedwith any other embodiment disclosed herein.

Even though embodiments of the various aspects have been described, manydifferent alterations, modifications and the like thereof will becomeapparent for those skilled in the art. The described embodiments aretherefore not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

1. A method in a communication device for determining a score relatingto a first agent module, wherein the first agent module is included inan agent community managed by an agent community module, wherein themethod comprises: receiving information relating to at least onerequest, performed by another agent module separate from the first agentmodule, for consumption of a capability of the first agent module,wherein the another agent module is included in the agent community,wherein the information relating to the at least one request includes:information about the capability of the first agent module, informationabout an intention of the first agent module, wherein the intentionspecifies a set of actions that consumes the capability in order tofulfil the request, and information about a policy for the capability,wherein the policy restricts, in terms of one or more of time, space,speed, and hardware used by the first agent module, consumption of thecapability when the first agent module acts according to its intentionin order to fulfil the at least one request, and calculating the scorein relation to the first agent module based on the information relatingto the at least one request, wherein the score further is specified withrespect to the capability.
 2. The method according to claim 2, whereinthe communication device comprises a second agent module, wherein themethod further comprises: publishing information about a capability ofthe second agent module, information about an intention of the secondagent module, information about a policy for the capability of thesecond agent module, and a time stamp relating to the publishing.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:publishing information about a capability of the another agent module,information about an intention of the another agent module, informationabout a policy for the capability of the another agent module, and atime stamp relating to the publishing of the information in relation tothe another agent module.
 4. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe method further comprises: sending, to the agent community module, arequest for a set of agent modules having a particular capability,receiving, from the agent community module, the set of agent modules,and selecting, from among the set of agent modules, a particular agentmodule for interaction with the second agent module, wherein theparticular agent module is selected based on a respective score for eachof the agent modules of the set of agent modules.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the capability comprises one or more of aservice, a resource, and an action performable by the first agentmodule.
 6. (canceled)
 7. (canceled)
 8. A communication device configuredfor determining a score relating to a first agent module, wherein thefirst agent module is included in an agent community managed by an agentcommunity module, wherein the communication device is configured for:receiving information relating to at least one request, performed byanother agent module separate from the first agent module, forconsumption of a capability of the first agent module, wherein theanother agent module is included in the agent community, wherein theinformation relating to the at least one request includes: informationabout the capability of the first agent module, information about anintention of the first agent module, wherein the intention specifies aset of actions that consumes the capability in order to fulfil therequest, and information about a policy for the capability, wherein thepolicy restricts, in terms of one or more of time, space, speed andhardware used by the first agent module, consumption of the capabilitywhen the first agent module acts according to its intention in order tofulfil the at least one request, and calculating the score in relationto the first agent module based on the information relating to the atleast one request, wherein the score further is specified with respectto the capability.
 9. The communication device according to claim 8,wherein the communication device is further configured for publishinginformation about a capability of the second agent module, informationabout an intention of the second agent module, information about apolicy applied to the intention of the second agent module, a time stamprelating to the publishing.
 10. The communication device according toclaim 8 wherein the communication device is further configured forpublishing information about a capability of the another agent module,information about an intention of the another agent module, informationabout a policy applied to the intention of the another agent module, atime stamp relating to the publishing of the information in relation tothe another agent module.
 11. The communication device according toclaim 8, wherein the communication device is further configured forsending, to the agent community module, a request for a set of agentmodules having a particular capability, receiving, from the agentcommunity module, the set of agent modules, and selecting, from amongthe set of agent modules, a particular agent module for interaction withthe second agent module, wherein the particular agent module is selectedbased on a respective score for each of the agent modules of the set ofagent modules.
 12. The communication device according to claim 8,wherein the capability comprises one or more of a service, a resource,and an action performable by the first agent module.
 13. Anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium that providesinstructions that, if executed by a processor of a communication device,will cause the processor to perform operations for determining a scorerelating to a first agent module, wherein the first agent module isincluded in an agent community managed by an agent community module,wherein the operations comprise: receiving information relating to atleast one request, performed by another agent module separate from thefirst agent module, for consumption of a capability of the first agentmodule, wherein the another agent module is included in the agentcommunity, wherein the information relating to the at least one requestincludes: information about the capability of the first agent module,information about an intention of the first agent module, wherein theintention specifies a set of actions that consumes the capability inorder to fulfil the request, and information about a policy for thecapability, wherein the policy restricts, in terms of one or more oftime, space, speed, and hardware used by the first agent module,consumption of the capability when the first agent module acts accordingto its intention in order to fulfil the at least one request; andcalculating the score in relation to the first agent module based on theinformation relating to the at least one request, wherein the scorefurther is specified with respect to the capability.
 14. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium according to claim 13,wherein the communication device comprises a second agent module,wherein the operations further comprise: publishing information about acapability of the second agent module, information about an intention ofthe second agent module, information about a policy for the capabilityof the second agent module, and a time stamp relating to the publishing.15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium according toclaim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: publishinginformation about a capability of the another agent module, informationabout an intention of the another agent module, information about apolicy for the capability of the another agent module, and a time stamprelating to the publishing of the information in relation to the anotheragent module.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: sending,to the agent community module, a request for a set of agent moduleshaving a particular capability; receiving, from the agent communitymodule, the set of agent modules; and selecting, from among the set ofagent modules, a particular agent module for interaction with the secondagent module, wherein the particular agent module is selected based on arespective score for each of the agent modules of the set of agentmodules.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 13, wherein the capability comprises one or more of aservice, a resource, and an action performable by the first agentmodule.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:receiving, from a set of communication devices, a score request thatrequests the score; and providing the score to the set of communicationdevices in response to the score request.
 19. The communication deviceof claim 8, wherein the communication device is further configured for:receiving, from a set of communication devices, a score request thatrequests the score; and providing the score to the set of communicationdevices in response to the score request.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving, from a set of communicationdevices, a score request that requests the score; and providing thescore to the set of communication devices in response to the scorerequest.